Easily manage your company’s human capital with SAP SuccessFactors. The HR solution will allow you to effectively manage all of your talents and their information
09/02/2023
SAP SuccessFactors: The Multi-Functional Human Resources Solution
8 minutes read
A company can have important financial assets, state-of-the-art premises, and quality products or services, but it cannot function without human capital.
When we talk about human capital, we are of course thinking about employees, but we must also consider former employees who are likely to leave a trace in the company, as well as future employees.
All these people must work for the company and its objectives. This is where the specificity and the problems of the human resources (HR) field lie.
To do this in the most efficient way, the use of a dedicated HR application is indispensable. SAP has been the leader in this field for many years with SAP SuccessFactors.
SuccessFactors: from its Creation to its Acquisition
SuccessFactors before SAP
SuccessFactors is an American company founded in 2001 by Lars Dlagaard who developed BizX, a SaaS (Software as a Service) software suite specialized in human capital management.
Unlike other solutions at the time, the goal was not only to facilitate the work of the human resources department but to align employee objectives with the company’s strategy.
Ten years after its launch, SuccessFactors was already a direct competitor to HRIS (Human Resources Management Information System) solutions. Various complementary modules have been added to the suite adopted by more than 3,200 customers.
But 2011 also marks its acquisition by the German firm SAP to develop the whole Cloud part
The Acquisition of SuccessFactors by SAP
As early as 1986, SAP offered a human resources solution known soberly as SAP HR. It consisted of four modules:
- Employee Self Service (ESS) which allowed employees to update their own information
- Management Self-Service (MSS) was dedicated to managers and leaders to access reports and update employee information
- E-learning
- E-recruiting
But the German company soon realized that this was not its specialty. So, to remain competitive, it decided to buy L. Dlagaard’s HR solution in 2011, triggering a “merger” between SuccessFactors and the one already owned by SAP. The solution quickly became a must-have tool for SAP.
What are the Features of SAP SuccessFactors?
What are SuccessFactors for?
As we have said several times since the beginning of this article, SAP SuccessFactors is a tool that will allow you to manage HR business processes from end to end: the management of salaries, bonuses, and days worked…
All the information is therefore centralized and allows the company to operate without any problems. A wide range of features makes SuccessFactors one of the most popular HR applications.
The Modules of SuccessFactors
There are three main categories :
- The core of human resources: as the name implies, these are the core activities of the HR profession
- Talent management
- Reporting and Analysis
Within these categories, there are no less than 10 modules in SuccessFactors:
As with many SAP solutions, it is possible to use only a few modules, although they work best when used in synergy. Currently, the three most used modules are Goal and Performance, SAP Jam, and Learning.
The SuccessFactors Infrastructure
At the bottom of the architecture, it is important to point out that all companies that use the application have one or more databases that are completely independent of SAP SuccessFactors. All the data is grouped within the SAP ERP (ECC, S4HANA, etc.).
The solution is mainly published in JAVA format and uses the J2EE specification. The transactions are independent and do not depend on other transactions. This is what makes it so special compared to SAP HCM.
Who are the Competitors of SAP SuccessFactors?
Workday offers a unique Cloud HCM solution. Unlike SuccessFactors, it offers less flexibility and customization. So, when a module is deployed in one HR process, it is deployed in all processes.
In terms of functionality, there are similarities with SAP with, for example, talent management, payroll management, or workforce analysis.
But Workday has often been a little late, especially for its Learning module, which was developed rather late. We will therefore choose Workday for its structuring side while SAP SuccessFactors allows more freedom and customization.
Oracle also offers its own solution called Oracle HCM Cloud. Like SAP SuccessFactors, it is flexible and offers a range of tools, including analytics, which is highly developed with its real-time information and its highly effective prediction modules.
The other similarity with SAP is of course its cooperation with the ERP of the American company. But there is a fundamental difference: SuccessFactors has historically specialized in human resources, unlike Oracle.
Therefore, there is more experience with SAP. As a result, SAP SuccessFactors will be more appropriate for larger companies with an important level of complexity in terms of organization and workforce thanks to its unique functionalities.
Finally, the biggest difference will be in the pricing. While Oracle offers a monthly subscription, SAP offers a one-time payment for unlimited use of the solution.
What are the reasons for SAP SuccessFactors success?
It’s no coincidence that SAP SuccessFactors is one of the most widely used HR solutions in the industry today. Indeed, it has many advantages:
An international solution: Software available in many languages (more than 40 available). In addition, with the Recruiting Marketing module, it is possible to post an ad and track it easily in over 80 countries
Fast and transparent integration with SAP S4/HANA. This is a key point to which we will return later in this article.
Power of many solutionsc : it is composed of multiple integrated platforms. It is different from the power of one solution (a solution is composed of a single platform) and niche payers (a single platform that covers only one area such as human resources for example)
Increased security: the application supports many features such as data purging, consent agreement, or auditing of changes, thus respecting the right to privacy and the RGPD guidelines.
Responsive: a mobile application exists that allows HR managers to manage and approve recruitment steps; this application can also be used to apply for internal company positions.
How to Integrate and use the SAP SuccessFactors Solution ?
Two types of integration are possible. SAP SuccessFactors offers an Integration Center as part of the SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite. It allows you to easily set up all the modules based on a pre-configured SFTP server.
There are four main elements: My integration, Monitor Integration, Data Model Navigator, and Security Center. The first two will be the ones you will use the most. We will therefore see in more detail how they work
My Integration
With this module, it is possible to set up a new integration by integrating data in many formats: CSV, txt, XML…
Note that this can be done via a web service with an external system (outbound integration within this case the implementation of REST or SOAP API is possible) or not (inbound integration). The reuse of integration is also possible with the Business Hub API created by SAP
Monitoring Integration :
This allows you to monitor completed integrations and especially the status of those in progress to identify possible errors and repair them
Another integration is also possible via SCPI thanks to:
- SFAPI, a SOAP API that allows you to import or export data between the ERP and SAP SuccessFactors and to perform CRUD-type actions
- OData connectors
SAP CPI offers an option for using these APIs in an intuitive way: the SAP SuccessFactors adapter. Depending on the API you want to connect, the adapter offers different options:
- SENDER (SOAP or REST)
- RECEIVER (SOAP, REST, or OData)
These are the tools that will read the data and allow you to connect SAP SuccessFactors to the APIs or to OData in order to facilitate the integration.
Once integrated, there are three ways to access the solution:
- Via a web page with a classic authentication request
- Via a web service in a more automated way to receive information from other systems
- Via a flat-file FTPS or SFTP
Why use SuccessFactors in your Company?
Today, the role of a human resources manager is to get the right mix of business goals and the talent or employees needed to achieve them. It’s not about having the most competent team possible, but rather that they work with the same objectives.
Just like the company, the HR field is becoming digitalized to save time, be more productive, and focus on more rewarding activities.
The information possessed by human resources is of excellent value to the company. Sharing and exchanging should be made easier with tools like SuccessFactors.
With real-time information and modules that cover the entire field, SAP SuccessFactors is the solution your company needs
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